SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 27: Renata Fast #14 of the Toronto Sceptres skates against Natalie Snodgrass #8 of the Seattle Torrent during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena on February 27, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - With captain Hilary Knight out of the lineup due to injury, the Seattle Torrent couldn't reward a record-breaking crowd on Friday night with a victory in a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Sceptres.
A U.S. record crowd of 17,335 was in attendance to celebrate the Torrent and their four Olympians that captured gold at the Winter Olympics in Italy in their first game since the break. However, Knight was placed on long-term injured reserve before the game with a lower-body injury, and Hannah Bilka also missed the game with an upper-body issue due to injuries sustained in Milan.
Emma Maltais' goal six minutes into the third period gave the Sceptres the lead for good, with a pair of empty-net goals in the closing minutes pushing the final margin to 5-2.
The Torrent had previously set the U.S. attendance record for a professional women's hockey game in their home debut in November with 16,014 fans in attendance. That record was broken in a PWHL Takeover Tour game at Capital One Arena in Washington in January with 17,228 fans on hand for the Sirens' 2-1 win.
The Sceptres were on fire early, grabbing the lead just 28 seconds into the game. Toronto carved into the Seattle zone as Daryl Watts setup Jesse Compher for a 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game. Toronto continued to control play for much of the opening period before the Torrent struck back in the closing seconds of the frame.
Julia Gosling button-hooked on the near boards and found Danielle Serdachny with a cross-ice pass. Serdachny waited and connected with Aneta Tejralová as she crashed toward goal, beating Raygan Kirk with 11.2 seconds left in the period to tie the game at 1-1.
Toronto went back on top less than five minutes into the second on a goal from Renata Fast
Fast picked up a loose puck deep in Seattle's zone and snapped a shot from the goal line that caromed through goaltender Hannah Murphy off her glove for a 2-1 Sceptres lead.
Like the opening period, Seattle found the tying tally late in the frame ahead of intermission. A quick transition off a Toronto turnover gave Alex Carpenter a clear look at Kirk with Natalie Snodgrass in position to clean up the rebound with 1:12 left in the period to tie it at 2-2.
It was the first goal with the Torrent for both Tejralová and Snodgrass.
Emma Maltais gave the Torrent a power play to open the third period on a holding penalty that Seattle was unable to convert on. Instead, she'd give the Sceptres the lead six minutes into the third period.
A wrist shot from the right circle from Maltais beat Murphy just under six minutes into the period to make it a 3-2 game, forcing the Torrent to play from behind again.
The Sceptres again jumped out front in the third period, forcing the Torrent to play from behind. Emman Maltais snapped a wrist shot from the right circle by Murphy just under six minutes into the period to make it a 3-2 game.
Another power play for Seattle on a holding call against Fast also came up empty.
Murphy headed for the bench with 2:20 left to play as they pushed for a tying goal, but Sara Hjalmarsson scored on the empty net with 1:59 remaining for insurance. A second empty net from Kali Flanagan with 1:23 left capped the three-goal loss for Seattle.
It was a matchup of the bottom two teams in the PWHL standings entering the game. The loss for Seattle leaves them three points behind fellow expansion team Vancouver for seventh at the bottom of the table at the midway point of the season.
Seattle Torrent place captain Hilary Knight on injured reserve
The Seattle Torrent have placed captain Hilary Knight on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury sustained while leading U.S. Women's Hockey to a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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